It was a brilliant move by Francis Beckett, the playwright and his biographer, to stage Clement Attlee: A Modest Little Man during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. It is, after all, a tale of the birth of British Socialism interlaced with political plots and skulduggery portrayed with great humour.

Who could be more appreciative than an audience of Labour activists meeting in one of the most left wing cities in the UK. The plot tells the tale of the life of Clement Attlee in a series of vignettes with his loyal wife Violet, well played by Lynne O’Sullivan, acting as the narrator.

I particularly loved the plotting by Herbert Morrison (Pete Picton)  to replace Clement Attlee, in 1945, because he found him lacking in passion in his speeches.  No wonder Peter Mandelson is his grandson. Skulduggery, runs in the genes.

The central figure, Attlee, a soft spoken man of few words but a walking encyclopedia on cricket, played by Roger Rose, was almost too softly spoken for this elderly reviewer but brilliant in capturing  the essence of the man.

I could see a modern parallel with the present Labour leader Keir Starmer – a man who also lacks passion – but whose analytical brain could mean Labour will be more radical in tackling modern problems like climate change and developing the NHS than people expect.  After the hysterical political chaos of Johnson and Truss a period of calm by a man of few words might be just what the electorate want.